Strange Messenger: The Work of Patti Smith

#650

Title: Strange Messenger: The Work of Patti Smith

Author: Patti Smith, David Greenberg, and John W. Smith

Publisher: Andy Warhol Museum

Year: 2002

79 pages

This is the catalogue for one of Smith's art displays. I enjoyed the introductory notes, but was frustrated by the choice of a small size of the volume, which made it extremely hard to see the details under discussion. 

The Alchemist and the Executioness

#649

Title: The Alchemist and the Executioness

Author: Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias S. Buckell

Publisher: Subterranean

Year: 2011

~200 pages
Audiobook

Two novellas set in the same universe and here packaged together. The universe was interesting, and the stories both all right. The claim is that the authors were answering a challenge to write in this genre about middle aged women; the assumption seemed to be that this hadn't been done, making me shake my head in wonder and think, Uh... Ursula K. Le Guin?! James Tiptree, Jr.?? Were it not for this introductory statement, I would not have divined this purpose, as it is not really well-realized in these two stories. The world of the stories is functionally that of Sleeping Beauty's castle surrounded by magic brambles; here, the brambles feed on magic. Of the two, Bacigalupi's story was the more interesting to me. Though it was about magic as a dangerous resource, it can be read as a broader ecological warning--we each think we have a compelling reason not to, say, recycle, and justify this with the comforting thought that our small act has no consequences. All of us, however, create a vast pool of actions, and the rich and powerful are even more brazen and wasteful. This is entwined in the plot but, though a vital element in the story, it seems discarded at the end by the protagonist, who does not seem to learn from this but instead responds to a different level of the story, for which reason I just thought, Good for you, but so what? Buckell's story might as well happen in any old fantasy world, and, though it could have been a nice psychological portrait, ultimately was just a sort of boring picaresque adventure, the kind that often forms the prologue or back history to the main narrative. So overall, okay but not great.

Report from Practically Nowhere

#648

Title: Report from Practically Nowhere

Author: John Sack

Illustrator: Shel Silverstein

Publisher: Backinprint.com

Year: 1959/2000

248 pages

A very engaging and amusing travelogue of Sack's visits to a good handful of tiny autononous or contested regions, some of which (like Monaco) are still states; others have become more firmly linked to a larger state, and some are of the likes of Swat, which I have known from an early age due to Lear's poem that begins, "Who, or why, or which, or what, is the Akond of SWAT?" Most of these teensy principalities come off looking rather absurd through Sack's choice of detail. Wikipedia's entry on the book includes links to the micro-countries described for one's historical and contemporaneous delectation. I conclude this review with a photo of Lundy's half-puffin coin, which I find profoundly engaging:

A Rumor of War

#647

Title: A Rumor of War

Author: Philip Caputo

Publisher: Owl Books (Henry Holt)

Year: 1977/1996

378 pages

Early Caputo, a mid-1970's memoir of his time as a marine in the early part of U.S. military involvement in Vietnam. I wasn't aware of Caputo's legal difficulties and was riveted. Read it with Swofford's Jarhead and Kidder's My Detachment. 

Linguistic nitpick: Vietnamese is written in Roman letters, so there's no excuse for misspelling. Không, not khoung; cam on, not cam ong. That's the editor's job.

[Citizen of the Galaxy]

#646

Title: Citizen of the Galaxy

Author: Robert A. Heinlein

Publisher: Ace

Year: 1957/1971

253 pages

I've read this any number of times, but since I began competitive reading at Goodreads, I haven't  done much re-reading. I like Heinlein's later juvenile novels very much--the ones like this and Starman Jones, not the way-juveniles like The Star Beast. Yes, they all have the same tone, except Podkayne of Mars where Heinlein first develops the annoying faux-female narrator voice that's so jarring in Farnham's Freehold. Yes, you could pick up most of the secondary characters and plunk them into a different Heinlein novel without breaking stride. Still, I like the character of Thorby very much. He's one of Heinlein's most sympathetic young men and I believe in his growing maturity and conviction. Similarly, Baslim may be the best realization of the stern yet protective older military man with near-superhuman powers of recall or comprehension (this is Heinlein's pre-"bald old coot" Mary Sue). I like the four distinct phases of Thorby's life, and the way the fifth section brings them together. I like that there are so many heroes in this novel whose heroic acts consist mainly of thinking or doing their unglamorous jobs well.

I've always disliked Heinlein's portrayal of women, but on this re-reading I noticed how much of the action hinges on the actions of the women, from the women who hide Thorby when Baslim disappears to the Sisu's Chief to Leda's covert and overt assistance. This is ever so much more cheering than the "Now it's time for you, our father, who is immortal, but we're actually twins who are your clones, to impregnate us" of later Heinlein.

A Life Inspired: Tales of Peace Corps Service

#645

Title: A Life Inspired: Tales of Peace Corps Service

Author: Peace Corps

Publisher: Peace Corps

Year: 2006

183 pages

An anthology of short, personal essays by Peace Corps Volunteers and Returned Volunteers. There's a nice breadth of countries and experiences, including those of several African-Americans. Read to learn more about the Peace Corps or in a class to stimulate discussion about issues such as acculturation. For better literary quality, read a book-length Peace Corps narrative that has been better edited for style.

All Clear (All Clear #2)

#644

Title: All Clear (All Clear #2)
Author: Connie Willis

Publisher: Spectra

Year: 2011
643 pages

Audiobook

Part 2. The story continues with the hapless historians still trapped in the early 1940's. The anxiety becomes more acute as deadlines loom. It's a big sprawling narrative, though the focus is domestic and intimate. It's fun to watch Willis tie her plot points back in, resolve the narrative, and throw in some big reveals for good measure. I figured out several mysteries and was sometimes frustrated by the protagonists' endless yet mostly useless rumination, but it helped to remember that these are people in their 20s, and not always skillful at thinking their way out of a wet paper bag.